Friday, July 30, 2010

Apparently Maxine Waters Hasn't Done Enough Damage to This Society: She Moves From Racial Quotas in Housing to Racial Quotas in Finance

The disgraceful left-wing career politician named Maxine Waters (D-CA) made quite a name for herself about a decade ago defending the Clinton-era policies that led to the mortgage meltdown. Put simply, she supported underwriting vast swaths of mortgage loans to anyone: the poor, the real estate-flippers, the scam-artists, the illegal immigrants. In other words, she believed that loaning money to those who had no ability or intent to pay it back was the responsibility of you, the taxpayer.

In 2003, the effort to rein in Fannie began in earnest with a Republican bill ("H.R. 2575—THE SECONDARY MORTGAGE MARKET ENTERPRISES REGULATORY IMPROVEMENT ACT"). The bill would have strengthened an independent regulator that did not have to kowtow to the political establishment. Like most efforts aimed at reformation of Fannie, the committee votes were typically on the straight party line -- with the Democrats blocking any oversight of Fannie and Freddie.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): I think it is clear that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are sufficiently secure so they are in no great danger... I don't think we face a crisis; I don't think that we have an impending disaster. ...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do very good work, and they are not endangering the fiscal health of this country.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA): I have sat through nearly a dozen hearings where, frankly, we were trying to fix something that wasn't broke. [sic] ...These GSEs have more than adequate capital for the business they are in: providing affordable housing. As I mentioned, we should not be making radical or fundamental change... If there is anything to fix or improve, it is the [regulators].

The result, of course, was the sinkhole-like implosion of the GSEs that leveled the economy in 2008 and for which the taxpayer is still on the hook for the tidy sum of one or two trillion dollars.

A little-noticed section of the Wall Street reform law grants the federal government broad new powers to compel financial firms to hire more women and minorities... Deep inside the massive overhaul bill, Congress gives the federal government authority to terminate contracts with any financial firm that fails to ensure the “fair inclusion” of women and minorities, forcing every kind of company from a Wall Street giant to a mom-and-pop law office to account for the composition of its work force.

Employment law experts say the language goes further than any previous attempt by the U.S. government to promote diversity in the financial sector — putting muscle behind federal efforts to help minority- and women-owned firms gain access to billions in federal contracts.

...to opponents, the provision signifies a brazen government intrusion into corporate practices, with language written so vaguely that some believe it could lead to an unofficial quota system.

“This expands exponentially the reach of the federal government in terms of auditing,” said Peter Kirsanow, an attorney and Republican appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. “This is an expansion of racial engineering that we haven’t seen in a long time."

The bill is so broad that even Susan Collins (RINO-ME) has complained about its scope. It doesn't just impact federal offices and agencies, but hits contractors, subcontractors and other entities with as yet unknown dictates, regulations and -- likely -- quotas.

Maxine Waters authored a 1,261-word section that establishes "at least 20 new Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion across the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission and other finance-related agencies."

A House ethics subcommittee has completed its investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), and could announce its next steps before lawmakers leave town for the August recess Friday, according to sources familiar with the process.

The committee is in discussions with Waters about the case, in which investigators looked at whether she broke House rules by improperly intervening with federal officials on behalf of a local bank, OneUnited Bank, that her husband owned stock in and once sat on the board of directors.

Maxine Waters appears to be a one-woman wrecking crew -- a female version of Andrew Cuomo perhaps, only with more conflicts-of-interest.